LAHORE: A middle-aged man died of swine flu at a private hospital here on Monday, health department said.

The patient was identified as Syed Altaf Husain Sherazi, who was under treatment at Doctors Hospital.

The health department notified it as the first death having been caused by swine flu in Punjab in 2015 after reports tested the patient positive for the H1N1 virus.

Director General Health Dr Zahid Pervez said the management of the Doctors Hospital had not informed the health department about the presence of the suspected patient of swine flu.

He said when health experts came to know about it, they took blood samples of the patient and sent them to the National Institute of Health, Islamabad, a couple of days ago. The report confirmed the patient was suffering from swine flu.

The DG said the patient was a resident of district Sargodha. “Our teams which were dispatched to Sargodha for surveillance had got blood samples of those people who remained in contact with the patient during the period of his disease,” Dr Pervez said.

Another health team carried out the same exercise at the private hospital where the patient remained under treatment.

Meanwhile, Adviser on Health Khwaja Salman Rafique said an inquiry would be conducted and in case of violation of SOP, the matter would be sent to the Punjab Healthcare Commission for taking action against the hospital concerned.

Dr Pervez said it was the responsibility of the private hospital to inform the CDC section of the health department about the patient of H1N1 virus.

In reply to a question, he said the health department had already taken protective measures in the wake of swine flu epidemic in India.

Published in Dawn, April 14th, 2015

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